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Wednesday, May 3, 2017

NSCRO Teams Named For CRC

Press Release

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - May 3, 2017 - Two-time defending champion New Mexico Highlands University leads the eight-team field just announced in the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) National Championship, to be competed at Talen Energy Stadium in suburban Philadelphia during the 2017 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship.

The Vatos, out of Las Vegas, New Mexico, won the 2016 NSCRO National Championship in men's rugby sevens last summer with a 31-7 victory of St. Mary's College of Maryland (St. Mary's City, Maryland). New Mexico Highlands and St. Mary's return to the pitch this June 3rd and 4th, along with the men's sevens squads from Babson College (Wellesley, MA), Colby College (Waterville, ME), Christendom College (Front Royal, Virginia), Duke University (Durham, NC), Solano Community College (Fairfield, California), and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. The NSCRO National Championship field of eight was determined through eight qualifier tournaments conducted around the country this spring.

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Previous NSCRO National Champions include Occidental College (2013) and New England College (2014).

Since 2007, NSCRO has been at the forefront of fostering and developing small college rugby programs in the United States. It is comprised of more than 240 men's and 135 women's colleges and universities who participate in more than 30 leagues for an opportunity compete on a national level and showcase their abilities to a broader and larger audience.

The 2017 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship returns to Philadelphia and Talen Energy Stadium for the seventh consecutive year, on Saturday, June 3rd and Sunday, June 4th, bringing national and International attention to the Philadelphia region through the live broadcasts on the networks of NBC Sports. The two-day rugby festival is one of the largest gatherings of collegiate and high school rugby teams in the world, with over 30,000 anticipated to be in attendance. Penn Mutual is in the third year of a title sponsorship for the event, and NBC Sports once again returns as both broadcaster and event partner.

The main event at the 2017 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship is the 24-team field of the nation's top men's collegiate Rugby 7s squads competing for the national championship title and the Pete Dawkins Trophy. The trophy is named after the All-American football standout at West Point who won the Heisman Trophy in 1958. Dawkins was a Rhodes Scholar and attended Oxford, where he used his outstanding football skills to make him a star on the Oxford Varsity rugby team, revolutionizing the game in the process.

At the top of that field is four-time defending champion University of California, returning to the pitch on which they have won the Pete Dawkins Trophy in an unprecedented show of dominance. Men's collegiate rugby sevens squads from American International, Arizona, Arkansas State, Army, Boston College, Clemson, Dartmouth, Indiana University, Life University, Lindenwood, Navy, University of Notre Dame, South Carolina, St. Mary's College (Moraga, California), Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, as well as Philadelphia-area favorites Delaware, Kutztown, Penn State, Saint Joseph's and Temple have all earned a spot in the 2017 championship field.

The 16-team field in the women's competition is led by defending women's champion Life University, which captured the crown last June with a 19-10 victory over Lindenwood University. Lindenwood also returns for the 2017 competition, along with three-time champion and Philadelphia-area favorite Penn State, which won the title in 2013, 2014 and 2015. They are joined by the women's Rugby 7s teams from Bloomsburg, Clemson, Dartmouth, Delaware, Indiana, Kutztown, Navy, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Temple and the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Selects squad, an all-star team chosen from the best of the NSCRO's sevens teams. Two more women's Rugby 7s teams will be added to the field shortly.

The "World's Largest Collegiate Rugby Festival" also includes the nation's largest high school tournament with both boys and girls teams. Fields for those two tournaments will be announced shortly.